Kevin De Bruyne has assured Manchester City fans he's pain-free after coming back from two serious knee injuries but has asked for patience as he tries to get back to last season's scintillating form.

De Bruyne was one of the City players who looked off-colour in Tuesday's shock defeat at Newcastle. But having missed nearly four months of the season, he says it's inevitable it will take time to find his regular consistency.

'I don't feel anything with my knee. Every day I try to be at the best level and sometimes people have to give me a little bit of slack after that amount of time away. I always want to be better but sometimes my body just says No and I have to take that in my stride.

Kevin De Bruyne has admitted that he is going to need more time before he is back to his best

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'I also didn't have a pre-season (because of the World Cup) and then I turned my knee, that's just the way it is. Now I'm trying to get to the level of last year physically. I think people know who I am as a player or what I can do for the team and that's not going to change after an injury or two so that doesn't really bother me.'

De Bruyne was widely regarded as City's best player when they won the Premier League last season with a record 100 points. It's far tougher for them this time and this week they face Arsenal, Everton and Chelsea in a week, starting five points behind leaders Liverpool.

'Obviously it's another tough week,' says the Belgian midfielder. 'We've been playing a lot of games and then they just dropped Everton in between two big games (because City are in the Carabao Cup final). It's just the way it is.

The 27-year-old has recently returned to action after second serious knee injury

'We'll take it in our stride and keep going. In the end it's a good thing to play so many games because it means we are in so many competitions, we are in a final so it's good to play for the prizes. Sometimes you get tired as a team mentally and physically but we try to come out a strong as we can.'

De Bruyne has managed just 16 appearances in all competitions this season and his only Premier League goal came in a 3-2 home defeat against Crystal Palace.

Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola insists he does have enough leaders in the Manchester City dressing-room without club captain Vincent Kompany as the champions embark on a pivotal week in which they face Arsenal, Everton and Chelsea.

Kompany, who has lifted the Premier League trophy in three of the last five seasons, misses his eighth game in a row against Arsenal today (Sunday) with a muscle injury and could leave The Etihad this summer.

The City midfielder was out of sorts in Tuesday's shock defeat at Newcastle United

Without the defensive talisman, City looked short of vocal encouragement on the pitch when they slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Newcastle on Tuesday night - losing ground to title rivals Liverpool and Tottenham as a result.

However, Guardiola - who is trying to successfully play catch-up in a title race for the first time in his career - believes quieter players like David Silva, Fernandinho and others are capable of being influential in a different way.

'I have a lot of leaders. People who make a step forward when situations are going bad, and they have to do it again and again,' he said.

'I've met incredible players who didn't speak one word. And I saw a lot of players who speak a lot in the locker room and afterwards they go on the pitch and are under pressure, "I don't want the ball and I don't want to defend."

'We cannot tell players to be something he doesn't feel. You have to talk your talk, and that comes from inside.'

City have recently lost to Crystal Palace, Leicester and Newcastle to fall five points behind leaders Liverpool but Guardiola still thinks he can end the season with an eighth championship to add to his three each at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, and his triumph with City last season.

After the Arsenal game, they travel to Goodison Park on Wednesday before facing Chelsea next weekend.

'Of course I believe. I love my players, I trust them. I've said it many times.

'Every time is less games left to play and we have to make a lot of points if we want to be real contenders and to make a lot of points we have to be again focused on our game.

'You send a message the way you play. The opponents, the managers, they are sitting watching the games on TV and when they say "Wow, how good they are, how good they play' and that is the best pressure you can put on.'

All of Guardiola's other title successes have been won from the front giving him something new to aim for this season.